All decked out in his summer dress white uniform, Hero, the most famous of all cigarette sailors tried to help Philip Morris launch a new Players line-extension beginning January 1996. This modern "Navy Cut" filter tip was sold in two versions, the "light" pictured, and the full-flavor which had the old salt wearing his traditional navy blue uniform. John Player and Sons of Nottingham, England first used the face of the ancient mariner for an 1883 pipe tobacco packet, added the lifebuoy in 1888, then in 1891 registered him in the present form. The new filter-tip cigarette was promoted with a free deck of playing cards that mimicked the cigarette packet in looks. Magazine advertising for this campaign took an old time approach. A pub with an antique store look had one of those large drums used by a marching band hanging from the ceiling, and this drum pictured our hero. Times change, though, and the colorful nautical graphics didn't persuade enough landlubbers to switch brands---the test market failed. I suppose Hero has become something of a drag.